North korea invaded south korea

U.S. President Donald Trump dismissed a Chinese diplomatic effort to rein in North Korea's weapons program as a failure on Thursday, while Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said Beijing was doing a lot, but could do more to limit oil supplies to Pyongyang. In a tweet, Trump delivered another insulting barb against North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, who he called "Little Rocket Man" and a "sick puppy" after North Korea test-fired its most advanced missile to date on Wednesday. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Washington's approach was dangerously provocative. Trump's tweets further inflamed tensions reignited this week after North Korea said it had successfully tested a new intercontinental ballistic missile in a "breakthrough" that put the U.S. mainland within range of its nuclear weapons whose warheads could withstand re-entry to the Earth's atmosphere. "The Chinese envoy, who just returned from North Korea, seems to have had no impact on Little Rocket Man," Trump said on … [Read more...] about Trump: China’s N.Korea diplomacy appears to have ‘no impact on Little Rocket Man’

The United States warned North Korea's leadership it would be "utterly destroyed" if war were to break out, after Pyongyang test fired its most advanced intercontinental ballistic missile, putting the U.S. mainland within range.The Trump administration has repeatedly said all options were on the table in dealing with North Korea's ballistic and nuclear weapons program, including military ones, but that it still prefers a diplomatic option.Still, speaking at an emergency U.N. Security Council meeting, U.S. ambassador Nikki Haley warned:"We have never sought war with North Korea, and still today we do not seek it. If war does come, it will be because of continued acts of aggression like we witnessed yesterday ... And if war comes, make no mistake, the North Korean regime will be utterly destroyed."Haley said the United States has asked China to cut off oil supply to North Korea, a drastic step that Beijing - the North's neighbor and sole major trading partner - has so far refrained from … [Read more...] about US warns North Korean leadership will be ‘utterly destroyed’ in case of war

North Korea appears to have carried out a recent missile engine test while brisk movements of vehicles were spotted near known missile facilities. North Korea may conduct additional missile tests this year to polish up its long-range missile technology and ramp up the threat against the United States, South Korea’s spy agency said on Monday, adding that it was monitoring developments closely. North Korea is pursuing nuclear weapons and missile programs in defiance of U.N. Security Council sanctions and has made no secret of its plans to develop a missile capable of hitting the U.S. mainland. It has fired two missiles over Japan. The reclusive state appears to have carried out a recent missile engine test while brisk movements of vehicles were spotted near known missile facilities, Yi Wan-young, a member of South Korea’s parliamentary intelligence committee which was briefed by Seoul’s National Intelligence Service, said. No sign of an imminent nuclear test had been … [Read more...] about South Korea fears further missile advances by North this year in threat to U.S.

U.S. President Donald Trump ordered new sanctions against North Korea on Thursday and Pyongyang's leader defiantly vowed to persist with its nuclear and missile programs and said it would consider measures against the United States. Tensions have risen as Pyongyang has resisted intense international pressure and the rhetoric between Trump and Kim Jong Un has also escalated. The U.S. president on Tuesday called him a 'rocket man' on a suicide mission and Kim described Trump early on Friday in Asia as "mentally deranged". The escalating rhetoric came as even the U.N. Secretary General called for statesmanship to avoid "sleepwalking" into a war. South Korea, Russia and China all urged calm. Kim said the North would consider the "highest level of hard-line countermeasure in history" against the United States in response to Trump's threat to "totally destroy" the North in his first speech to the United Nations on Tuesday. Pyongyang conducted its sixth and largest nuclear test on September 3 … [Read more...] about Trump orders new sanctions against N.Korea, Kim calls him ‘deranged’

China said on Saturday it will ban exports of some petroleum products to North Korea, as well as imports of textiles from the isolated North, in line with a United Nations Security Council resolution passed after Pyongyang's latest nuclear test. The announcement from Beijing came at the end of a week that saw tensions ratchet up between the United States and North Korea, with the leaders of both countries trading insults. The Ministry of Commerce said in a statement on its website that China would limit exports of refined petroleum products from October 1 and ban exports of condensates and liquefied natural gas immediately to comply with the latest U.N. sanctions. Imports of textiles from North Korea would also be banned immediately, the statement said. Textile trade contracts signed before Sept. 11 would be respected if import formalities are completed before midnight on December 10, the statement said. The moves follow the adoption of a unanimous U.N. Security Council agreement on … [Read more...] about China follows UN sanctions with bans, limits on fuel products to North Korea

North Korea denounced the U.S. deployment of a naval strike group to the region Tuesday, warning it is ready for "war" as Washington tightens the screws on the nuclear-armed state. The strike group, which includes the Nimitz-class aircraft supercarrier USS Carl Vinson, cancelled a planned trip to Australia this weekend to head to the Korean peninsula in a show of force. "This goes to prove that the U.S. reckless moves for invading the DPRK have reached a serious phase," a spokesman for the North's foreign ministry said according to state news agency KCNA. "The DPRK is ready to react to any mode of war desired by the U.S.," he said, using the country's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. President Donald Trump, fresh from ordering a missile strike on Syria that was widely interpreted as a warning to North Korea, has asked his advisors for a range of options to rein in Pyongyang, a top U.S. official said Sunday. Trump has previously threatened unilateral action … [Read more...] about North Korea ‘ready for war’ with United States

A North Korean state agency threatened on Thursday to use nuclear weapons to "sink" Japan and reduce the United States to "ashes and darkness" for supporting a U.N. Security Council resolution and sanctions over its latest nuclear test. Pyongyang's Korea Asia-Pacific Peace Committee, which handles the North's external ties and propaganda, also called for the breakup of the Security Council, which it called "a tool of evil" made up of "money-bribed" countries that move at the order of the United States. "The four islands of the archipelago should be sunken into the sea by the nuclear bomb of Juche. Japan is no longer needed to exist near us," the committee said in a statement carried by the North's official KCNA news agency. Juche is the North's ruling ideology that mixes Marxism and an extreme form of go-it-alone nationalism preached by state founder Kim Il Sung, the grandfather of the current leader, Kim Jong Un. Regional tension has risen markedly since the reclusive North conducted … [Read more...] about N.Korea threatens to ‘sink’ Japan, reduce U.S. to ‘ashes and darkness’

North Korea said Tuesday the Korean peninsula was headed for "thermo-nuclear" war and advised foreigners in South Korea to consider evacuation, in the latest in a series of apocalyptic threats.The warning followed a similar evacuation advisory the North gave Friday to foreign embassies in its capital Pyongyang, saying it could not ensure the safety of their personnel if a conflict broke out."The situation on the Korean Peninsula is inching close to a thermo-nuclear war," the North's Asia-Pacific Peace Committee said in a statement carried by the North's official Korean Central News Agency.Saying it did not want to see foreigners in South Korea "fall victim", the statement requested all foreign institutions, enterprises and tourists "to take measures for shelter and evacuation in advance for their safety".The "thermo-nuclear war" threat has been wielded several times in recent months -- most recently on March 7 -- despite expert opinion that North Korea is nowhere near developing such … [Read more...] about N. Korea urges foreigners in South to evacuate

Sixty years after the end of a war which killedmillions and sealed the Korean peninsula's division into communist Northand capitalist South, the dream of reunification is fading in SouthKorea. A tourist takes pictures of ribbons carrying messages wishingfor the reunification of the two Koreas, at Imjingak peace park in Pajunear the demilitarized zone dividing the two Koreas, July 23, 2013. After more than a thousand years as a united nation, the separateKoreas came into being in 1948 but went to war two years later when theNorth invaded. They have remained technically at war since the conflictended on July 27, 1953, with an armistice but no peace treaty. Officially, at least, reunification remains the holy grail for both Seoul and Pyongyang. But sentiment in the prosperous South has continued to sour in recentyears, as more people tire of regular threats from their impoverishedneighbour and fret about the potentially huge cost of a merger. A generational shift has … [Read more...] about Dream of reunification fades in S. Korea

The escalated tension between North and South Korea is alarming. It is not only the Korean people who fear another civil war; others in the Asia-Pacific region also have their fear and anxiety. Those with first hand experiences of wars who have survived today would fear the horrors, the suffering, and the catastrophic loses. Map of North and South Korea From the political point of view, nearly one-half of the world’s population live in the countries bordering the Asia-Pacific region. More than half of the economic activities in the world are conducted here. Another war involving the major powers like the United States and China would again bring much instability to this region.Shortly after the artillery attack on the South Korean island of Yeonpyeong, the news media informed the general public:“The US President, Barack Obama, and the South Korean President, Lee Myung-bak, have agreed to hold joint … [Read more...] about North and South Korea, war or peace?